How to get out of contract with Publish America

[Magicpen]

This is the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau on 5/21/2009. They closed the case because they said they didn't intervene on behalf of "businesses". When I explained I am not a business, they said because I have a book to sell, I am considered a business.
Publish America is periodically requesting submission of the final draft of the book and I have repeatedly told them I just want out of the contract. I am among hundreds maybe thousands of other gullible authors that Publish America has defrauded. They do not tell you up front that they will publish books only that you and your family and friends will buy.

This is the BBB complaint:
After signing a contract with PublishAmerica on March 9, 2009, I discovered: 1.)My book WILL NOT be put on bookstore shelves. 2.)My book WILL BE overpriced higher than books of similiar size. 3.)PublishAmerica DOESN'T SCREEN SUBMISSIONS. 4.)My book WILL NOT be edited for content,in fact, PublishAmerica's editing process will introduce 'new' errors in my book. 5.)Bookstores will have to pay up front for my book. 6.)PublishAmerica DOES NOT put out a catalog. 7.)PublishAmerica charges bookstores MORE than trade publishers.

PublishAmerica has only a rough draft of my book,"Silent Retribution." Before my book is processed any further, I respectfully request that PublishAmerica declare the contract signed by them on February 26, 2009, and then signed by me on March 9, 2009, be declared null and void and cancelled, releasing me from any and all obligations stated in said contract.

How do I get out of the contract and what can I do if a legitimate publisher wants to publish the book as a result of my webpage exposure? Art's Page

Sorry for your circumstances. I wish I had better news to share, but I would not expect this company to voluntarily let you off the hook since you have signed a contract. Truthfully, the only hope for getting some measure of relief here will be to retain legal counsel. If you go to their main page, I think WLD will have lawyers in your area and could give you some referral information. A strongly-worded letter may do the trick, or litigation may have to be filed, but either way in my experience this sort of company simply will not take you seriously if you are not represented. Hope things work out for you. AJJ

11/10/2009

Hi! We are dealing with a similar issue. We were misled by Publish America to believ that they are a "traditional" publisher. We signed the contract before the manuscript was finished, so they actually never accepted the final manuscript. As a matter of fact the book was never finished because we lost it due to a computer virus. We wrote to Publish America and asked them to cancell the contract. Publish America refuses to cancell the contract by stating that there is no sufficient reason to do so. The fact that we do not have the manuscript anymore is not enough for them. However, they are trying to extort money from us by suggesting that we have to pay a "damage" fee of $300.00. This company never did anything for us, we never even received the fabled dollar. They are like a spider that lurks the victim into its web and never let go. Once you sign the contract with them, you are ensnared into their trap. Unfortunately, we were not aware of the existence of such scam companies like Publish America and signed the contract without research. Now they are tying to take advange of us.